As a benefit to our Unity, Visionary, and Champion level members, the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber puts together an annual Unity Day to help build relationships, strengthen connections, and facilitate unity between our members at these higher levels. Due to holdups related to the pandemic, we were just now able to host our first ever Unity Day event on Wednesday, December 1 at Osceola History‘s Pioneer Village. Attendees were invited to bring teams of their colleagues to use the day as a team building opportunity, as well as a chance to connect with the Chamber staff and fellow members.
The Unity Day serves one of the Chamber’s three primary goals, which is “Building Unity,” and our first ever Unity Day also supported a second goal of “Embracing Heritage.” With the historic Pioneer Village as our setting, the theme of day was old-fashioned picnic. In a setting decorated with burlap, baled hay, and classic red-checked picnic cloth, we all enjoyed sliders and sides from Lizzie’s Memphis Style BBQ and delicious cupcakes from Smallcakes Kissimmee as everyone got to know one another.
The Pioneer Village’s outdoor meeting and events pavilion provided the perfect location to eat and visit before moving outside for some outdoor fun. Osceola History gave us the opportunity to try our hands at some activities and games that Osceola County’s earliest settlers might have enjoyed. In teams of four, our group completed a relay that included sack racing, three-legged racing, and hoop trundling, and then battled it out with a final
tug-of-war. Proving they’re more than just desk jockeys, Team SouthState Bank proved to be victorious in the relay and tug-of-war. Some attendees played a few leisurely rounds of cornhole, while others took time to chat over beverages, cupcakes, and a second round of food. Everyone received a complimentary map of the Pioneer Village so they could visit the historic and historic replica buildings on their way out. The Chamber was also pleased to offer a $500 donation to Osceola History for the use of their facilities for the day’s event. All-in-all, everyone had a fun, relaxing day, unity was built, and heritage embraced! We look forward to the next Unity Day event!
Said Chamber President/CEO John Newstreet, “They used to call a beautiful, perfect-weather day a ‘Chamber of Commerce Day,’ and today we had exactly that. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear, and everyone had a wonderful time team building, spending time outdoors, and connecting with other high-level members.”
The Unity Day is a member benefit for Unity level members and higher. If you are interested in participating in a future Unity Day event, or want to know if it is included in your membership level, please contact the Chamber at 407-948-3174 or email us iresto@theosceolachamber.com.
The Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce has added a Community Events Calendar to our website. Businesses, non-profits, government entities, and other organizations are encouraged to submit their upcoming community events to this public calendar.
“With this public events calendar, we hope to provide convenience for community businesses and residents by giving them a place to check for conflicting dates or just find an activity for the weekend,” said Chamber President/CEO John Newstreet.
Ideal submissions are events that are open to the public such as community festivals or vendor fairs; private events that have an associated ticket cost such as educational seminars or clinics, speaker events, or golf tournaments; and job fairs or hiring events. Events such as benefit dinners or invite-only affairs, or private parties, should not be submitted. The calendar can be accessed under the “Community” tab at the top of the Chamber homepage by clicking on “Community Calendar.” It can be viewed as a monthly calendar or as a list and can be filtered by date range and searched with key terms.
Anyone may submit to the events calendar, though submissions are subject to approval. Chamber membership is not a requirement to submit an event, though Chamber members will be given priority. There is no fee to submit an event for the Community Events Calendar.
To submit an event to the Community Events Calendar, follow the steps or view the “how to” video below:
The calendar will also feature the Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber’s own events, which can also be found separately on the Chamber Events Calendar by clicking the Events button at the top of the page. They are also listed at the bottom of our homepage.
On November 2nd, the Celebration Area Council invited the Osceola and Celebration business and residential communities along for a live panel discussion at Windsor at Celebration to explore and explain the “alphabet soup” of organizations that help keep Celebration running and successful. Many are confused by the seemingly endless list of acronyms and initialisms associated with Celebration, what each organization does, and who to go to for certain questions or services.
Three of these organizations joined our own CAC to help clarify some of the letter jumble and to discuss how our organizations can work together, and with the businesses and residents of Celebration, to make the Community as strong as it can be.
Jack McLaughlin of the Celebration Community Development District (CCDD), Kathleen Sipio of the Celebration Foundation (CF), and David Anderson of the Celebration Residential Owners Association (CROA) engaged with each other and our attendees for an hour as part of a panel moderated by Chamber President/CEO John Newstreet.
McLaughlin, a Celebration resident of 22 years and a past president of the CROA board, now holds seat 5 of the CCDD board. The CCDD is the special purpose limited government that falls under caption 1-9 of the Florida Statutes and is responsible for providing the infrastructure that makes Celebration the community it is. They finance, acquire, maintain, contract, and operate all of the infrastructure in Celebration. They are authorized to issue bonds, most recently for Celebration’s Island Village expansion, and are responsible for retention ponds, street trees, street signs, and much more. CCDD has a 5-person board of supervisors elected during November general elections.
Kathleen Sipio has been the Executive Director of the Celebration Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to build a better community through the arts, culture, and education. They are responsible for Celebration’s popular concert series, as well as special programs for Celebration’s seniors, an adult continuing education series, and community grants and scholarships.
David Anderson sits on the board of CROA. CROA is the HOA for Celebration. They recently hired a new management company and are exploring new and exciting ways to “onboard” new residents.
Other organizations that were not present for the panel discussion (a few of many, many more!) the Celebration Non-Residential Owners Association (CNOA), Celebration Community Services (CCS), and Lexin, which owns and leases the Celebration downtown. This dearth of organizations, our panelists admitted, is confusing even for them.
During this discussion, we learned that the CCDD has been asked by the state Department of Economic Opportunity to examine the question of incorporation for Celebration, and that is what they are focused on now. CROA just hired a new management company and are very excited about their new resident portal that allows Celebration residents to . The Celebration Foundation has found innovative ways to maintain their programs for residents throughout COVID, including extremely successful online programing that has attracted an international audience, and are excited to restart their concert series.
When asked how the different organizations can work together, and how the community might engage with these groups, the resounding answer was that Celebration residents, businesses and tenants are encouraged to be active and involved members of the community. The CAC looks forward to being better connected with Celebration’s many “alphabet” organizations and working together to combat common problems. Ongoing issues that the panel identified are increased parking solutions, the long-dormant Celebration Theatre, keeping the town fresh, and a need for rentable, shared office space.
If you are affiliated with an organization in Celebration, we would love to hear from you and connect with your organization. Please reach out to us at 407-847-4145 or cpilkington@theosceolachamber.com.
